Split (Shyamalan)

[Tyler]

Link to The Visit.

In Shyamalan's upcoming film Split (to be released January 2017), James McAvoy plays a man with multiple personalities--23 to be exact--who kidnaps 3 teenage girls.

It looks not good.

 

[Evan C]

If he's going for comedy, kind of like he did in The Visit, maybe it will be successful???? Just trying to be optimistic...

 

Also starring Anya Taylor-Joy from The Witch.

Edited July 27, 2016 by Evan C

[Peter T Chattaway]

Tyler wrote:
: . . . to be released January . . .
: It looks not good.

Well that almost goes without saying.

[Nathaniel]

This looks more entertaining than 10 Cloverfield Lane.

[Mr. Arkadin]

12 hours ago, Nathaniel said:

This looks more entertaining than 10 Cloverfield Lane.

That's true.

But it also looks as though McAvoy had more fun making it than any of us will have watching it.

[Nathaniel]

Yeah, this is basically a versatility vehicle for McAvoy, the way No Way to Treat a Lady was for Rod Steiger, or Theatre of Blood was for Vincent Price--a dark story built around the idea of a schizo person playing multiple roles. This is what they used to call a "high concept" pitch, and it's sort of charming that Shyamalan still thinks this way. Single-sentence synopses of his films always seem to intrigue me, even when they're dumb ("Four people are trapped in an elevator, and one of them is the Devil!"). But you're talking to a guy who's seen The Beast Must Die six times. 

I'll probably end up seeing this at the cheap theater down the street, preferably with a large crowd, the way I did with The Visit.

Edited July 31, 2016 by Nathaniel

[Peter T Chattaway]

They're saying this film could open in the mid-$30 millions, which would give it the fourth-best opening of Shyamalan's career (behind Signs, The Village and The Last Airbender -- and if we bracket The Last Airbender off as a "franchise" film, this would mark Shyamalan's best "original" opening in 13 years).

I have to admit I burst out laughing at the very end, just before the credits. If you've seen the film, you'll know why. Let's just say that this film is an... no, no, even that might be too much.

Edited January 20 by Peter T Chattaway

[morgan1098]

I saw this one today and liked it. McAvoy is great in the most over-the-top way possible. I also thought the girl from The Witch was good. LOL about that ending!

After seeing it I read a few professional reviews to see how they addressed that ending without giving anything away, and a couple handled it quite creatively.

It reminded me of Cloverfield Lane for numerous reasons. I think both films lost their momentum during the final moments.

[Evan C]

I was never the biggest Shyamalan fan, so take this with a grain of salt, but I thought this was his best film since Unbreakable. McAvoy and Taylor-Joy are clearly having a blast, and they do a great job playing off one another. The story was a littler darker than it needed to be, but the tension and pacing is pretty sharp, and Shyamalan is smart enough not to take his central concept too seriously.

Also, spoilers in white text: I now really want a sequel to this and Unbreakable where Bruce Willis fights the Beast, because I burst out laughing in that same spot Peter mentioned.

Edited January 31 by Evan C

[Peter T Chattaway]

Interestingly, this is shaping up to be the biggest hit ever produced by microbudget horror maestro Jason Blum. Only the first three Paranormal Activitys and Insidious Chapter 2 are ahead of it right now. And Split dropped only 35.9% in its second week, which is a very strong hold, especially for a horror movie. (The last Shyamalan/Blum collaboration, The Visit, dropped 54.5% in its second week.)

*** SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER ***

Further to what Evan C said, if Unbreakable was Shyamalan's prescient comment on the superhero genre (which, movie-wise, was just beginning to take off at that time; Unbreakable came out just a few months after the first X-Men movie, and nearly two years before the first Spider-Man movie), then Split is kind of a belated comment on the shared-universe genre.